


Stray

by Dragonlingdar



Series: Octopath Drabbles [1]
Category: Octopath Traveler (Video Game)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Family Dynamics, Family Fluff, Fix-It of Sorts, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-21
Updated: 2019-07-21
Packaged: 2020-07-10 01:17:59
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,390
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19897492
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dragonlingdar/pseuds/Dragonlingdar
Summary: Z'aanta was used to caring for strays; he just never expected one of them to be a small, wounded boy.





	Stray

**Author's Note:**

> Because Therion needs nice things and Boulderfall isn't *that* far from S'warkii....

Z’aanta tried to avoid hunting when the east wind blew strongly, but, sometimes, it was unavoidable. The hunt had been poor of late, and the way that he and H’aanit got by in town was trading in meat and furs for what other supplies they required, so, regardless of the ill wind, he and H'aanit set forth.

After an hour of fruitless tracking, H’aanit tugged on his sleeve and said, “Father, what’s that? Tis not a beast.”

Z’aanta looked in the direction that H’aanit was pointing. He couldn’t clearly make out what the small, crumpled form was either, so said, “Stayen here, H’aanit.”

There was a question in her silence, but she had been on enough hunts to know when to keep her peace. Z’aanta sent Hagen ahead as he himself approached cautiously, the wolf staying crouched close to the ground and slow-moving. However, when Hagen finally got close enough to catch a scent, he abruptly stood and trotted over without concern.   


_What doth_ that _meanen?_ Z’aanta wondered as he stood as well and approached.

Hagen’s nose was buried in what first seemed to be a pile of rags, but it gave a very human, very pained groan.   


_A child?_ Z’aanta thought and put away his bow.   


“Canst thou hearen me?” Z’aanta asked as he crouched on the other side of the child.

Hagen stuffed his nose underneath the pile and rolled the child onto their back.

He was young, probably no more than 12. His face was flushed with fever, his lips cracked from dehydration, and he had wounds on his arms and legs that were festering.   


“Gods,” Z’aanta breathed. He did a quick evaluation, and it looked like he’d be able to move the child without him taking any more damage.

“Father?”

“Goeth to town. Finden the town witch. We will needen her healing skills,” Z’aanta said as he picked up the wounded child and arranged him in his arms.

“Understood,” H’aanit said with a sharp nod. “Linde. Helpen Hagen watcheth over Father.”

She turned on her heel and ran quickly towards town.   


_How didst thou walken here in such a state?_ Z’aanta wondered as he began a slower trek to the village with the child held carefully in his embrace.

H’aanit was waiting at the entrance with the town wise-woman, who took one look at the child and gestured that Z’aanta follow her. Z’aanta walked briskly behind her to her home, which smelled strongly of green, living things and moisture upon his entrance.

“Placen him on the bed,” the woman said. Z’aanta did as told before stepping back and into H’aanit.   


“We founden a child?” H’aanit asked as she looked around Z’aanta’s body, both curious and cautious.

“So it seemeth,” Z’aanta replied.

“Shalle they liven with us?”

“Oho, thou dost wanten a sibling?”

“No,” H’aanit denied, although a blush touched her face. “It is merely that the childe hath no home.”

“Thou hast foundest him; thus, he is thine,” the witch said from the child’s bedside.

“Well, that is that, I supposen,” Z’aanta said as he barely caught H’aanit’s tiny smile.

_Perhaps she needesta friend,_ Z’aanta mused, feeling oddly guilty. _Linde is not enough._

“He shall recoveren?” Z’aanta asked once the witch’s work was done.

The woman paused, then nodded. “Aye. He is a strong boy. However, more than his body was hurten--his soul acheth, too. Good luck.”

Z’aanta did not like the last two words.

\--

Therion was a pain the ass for the first two months while he was recovering, but Linde’s attention and H’aanit’s stubbornness eventually won him over to actually speaking with them.

_Twas easier to gain Hagen’s trust,_ Z’aanta thought as he watched H’aanit teaching Therion how to use a bow, Linde and Hagen carefully returning any wayward arrows to them.   


Therion was incredibly intelligent, but also incredibly wary, and his pain manifested in both sarcasm and silence. After raising a girl as serious as H’aanit, Therion was a challenge.   


Thankfully, he at least had experience in raising a child that was smarter than him. As long as he gave Therion something to learn and focus on instead of his trauma, he was a much more pleasant boy.

Z’aanta still had no idea where H’aanit found the patience she did. Therion’s cutting words seemed to roll off her like water off a duck’s feathers.   


_I am glad to have founden him a companion ,_ Z’aanta thought as he held a slightly squirmy mountain lion kit in his arms. _I do not thinken he shall ever be a true hunter, but at least he will have a friend._

“Therion! H’aanit!” Z’aanta called out and walked over when they were taking a break due to Linde and Hagen finding and collecting arrows on their behalf.   


Both children looked over to him and Z’aanta gave them his easiest smile. “Thou groweth more skilled at the bow each day.”

Therion snorted, although his eyes were drawn to the kit in Z’aanta’s arms.

“Here, I bringen you a companion,” Z’aanta said and held out the kit to Therion. “His mother agreede to giveth him to me to giveth to you.”

Therion looked between the mountain lion and Z’aanta skeptically. “You asked a cat to give you one of her litter?”

“I asked quite nicely, too. Taketh him.”

Therion hesitated for a long moment before reaching out and taking the kit in his arms. The kit batted at a longer strand of Therion’s hair with a paw, but Therion actually laughed in spite of how close it came to his face.   


H’aanit never beamed, but the smile she wore was certainly wider and more sincere than Z’aanta usually saw.   


“What do you want?” Therion asked after a brief silence, the words sharp and slightly bitter.

“Hm?” Z’aanta asked, confused that Therion would even ask. _Didst he not recieveth gifts when younger? He hast spoken more with H’aanit than I about his past..._

“What do you want me to give you in return?” Therion clarified.

“I woulde prefern a little less sass, if possible,” Z’aanta responded.

H’aanit’s smile turned wry even as her eyes laughed, and Therion frowned.   


“What?” Therion asked even as he held the kit close to his chest and gently petted him.   


“The kit is thine companion, friend, and partner. I giveth him to thee freely,” Z’aanta hesitated before taking a chance. “My son needen someone to keep him safe when I am hunting.”

Therion looked bewildered. “What?”

“Thou art family ,” H’aanit said, strong emphasis on the final word, seemingly at ease with Z’aanta’s assertion. “With your kit, you are officially a hunter and my brother.”

“I don’t think that’s how it works,” Therion said as he looked to the kit in his arms.   


“Best not maketh things complicated,” Z’aanta replied cheerfully. “What shalt thou calle him?”

“Uh...I don’t know.”

“An odd name,” Z’aanta teased, which made H’aanit roll her eyes and Therion scowl.

“Apfel?” H’aanit offered. “You liken apples much.”

“A mountain lion named Apple?” Therion asked, skeptical before looking down at the kit in his arms, who was lightly gnawing on the clothes that Z’aanta and H’aanit had provided for him. “I guess it’s as good as any. Apfel it is.”

Z’aanta grinned. “Good! From now on, Apfel is thine partner. He goen where thou goest, doen what thou doest. Thou shalt ne’er be alone again.”

“Partner, huh?” Therion murmured, a sadness surrounding the word. “Well, I know Apfel won’t kick me off a cliff.”

“No, he shan’t,” Z’aanta agreed, finding the association strangely specific, although the glower on H’aanit’s face said there was a story behind the statement. “But thou whilt needeth to trainen him. Thou shalt learnen the way of the hunter together.”

Therion hesitated, then put Apfel on the ground, who promptly began to try to nibble on Therion’s shoe.   


The child looked thunderstruck by the fact that Apfel didn’t immediately run away, which made Z’aanta’s heart hurt.   


_Well, H’aanit and I shall showen him that we do not intenden to runen him away,_ Z’aanta thought firmly. H _e is family, my son, and he shall learnen to be as exasperated with me as H’aanit oft is._

“Could my first lesson be in how to get him to stop eating my clothes?”

Z’aanta laughed as H’aanit began to explain the basics of training a large cat to be a hunting partner.


End file.
